Abstract
The jointly authored introduction defines biblical criticism (or the historical-critical method) broadly as the process of establishing the original, contextual meaning of biblical texts and of assessing their historical accuracy. Next it traces the history of biblical criticism in both the Jewish (rabbis, Rashi) and Christian (Church Fathers, Luther) traditions. Then it describes the emergence of biblical criticism with Baruch Spinoza and its development especially in liberal German Protestant circles (Ernst Troeltsch, Julius Wellhausen).
